British Airways cabin crew to be balloted for third round of strikes

Unite union is preparing a ballot for a third round of industrial action against British Airways (BA).

The union is expected to inform BA it will hold another ballot of its 11,000 cabin crew members over further strikes, which will be the third round of stoppages in seven months.

Unite is said to be ready to hold the vote immediately and could inform the airline of its intention to ballot within 24 hours, meaning the poll could take place in a week’s time, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

If a vote in favour of industrial action is secured, the earliest that a strike could take place would be on 3 August.

According to Unite, the disagreement now revolves around the use of volunteer cabin crew by the airline, the withdrawal of travel discounts for members who took part in industrial action in March, and the disciplining of a number of staff during the strikes.

The union has insisted any agreement must include the full reintroduction of travel concessions.

In the two ballots since December, cabin crew have voted in favour of a strike by margins of 92% and 81%.